PIMS check

There is a new administrative process called PIMS (Petition Information Management System), which has been introduced recently and the consulate centers have started implementing it since Dec '07. This new process is causing a delay in issuing visas especially for H1 and L1 categories. Most of the times, they claim that this PIMS check will take around 5 working days (the American consulate in Mexico celebrates both American and Mexican holidays), but there are some cases where it took even more than that. The main objective of the PIMS is to verify the employer information and your identity in the company.

To avoid these delays, please send a scanned copy of your I797 to nogalesvisas@state.gov atleast two weeks prior to your appointment date so that the consular officer has enough time to update the PIMS and have it ready before your arrival. Even before this, you can call the respective consulate office and check if the PIMS data for your company is updated in their database.
The contact number for Nogales Consulate is 011 - 52 - (631)-313-4820 (Nogales, Mexico number) and DOS (Department Of State, US number) is (202)-663-1225
When you call them, press "1" and then press "0" for an operator.

Below is a sample email that you can send to the consulate with your H1-B scanned copies.

Dear Consulate Officer,

I am Abc (your name), working as a Programmer Analyst(Your designation as on your H1-B or LCA) on H1B with xxx(your company name). I scheduled an appointment at Nogales Consulate for getting my H1-B visa stamped on (appointment date) and my confirmation number is below:

xxx: NOG 00 00 00 00 00 000099999

I would like to know if my PIMS check is already cleared for my I-129 petitions. I am attaching scanned copy of approval of I-797 as pdf file to this mail.

Attachments: 1. xxx1 H1.pdf


Hope to hear from you soon.

Regards,
xxx